Catching the Captain
by Griffin Stone
Summary: The crew thought that the explosion killed Zak. It didn't, but if they don't act fast, either the fall or drowning might. (Missing scene from the episode Lemuria Attacks. Now a two-shot to give Zak's perspective.)
1. Cece

**A/N: I don't get why the show never showed this scene. I mean, it went from the crew thinking Zak was dead (okay, maybe not, but it sure seemed like it) to Zak waking up on the Chaos. What happened in between those scenes?!**

 **Thanks to Karlacri and Guest with my question for my other Zak Storm fanfiction. I realized too late that I didn't have Clovis calling himself a ghost in the final version, so I decided to go ahead and use it in this one.**

 **Once again, this story was posted on the same day it was typed, so feel free to scream at me for inconsistencies.**

* * *

The barrel of the cannon is shaking so badly, it is hard to stand. Cece braces her feet, mind racing with ideas that are discarded as quickly as she thinks of them. The people of Marituga are gathered on the beach. Their calm expectation does nothing to help Cece's nerves.

Turn the ship? No, the controls were locked to tightly for Crogar to move or Caramba to hack. Evacuate Marituga? They didn't have nearly the time!

"Now all of you, off this ship," Zak orders, breaking Cece from her thoughts.

"What are you going to do?" Cece asks. She is unable to see his face to guess what he was thinking, but his voice is unusually tense.

"Crogar doesn't leave. Crogar fights!" Crogar says confidently.

Zak's whole body slumps. He steps onto the plank floating in front of the cannon's barrel and turns. "The time for fighting is over."

Cece frowns. Zak's expression is determined, but sad. He grips Calabrass tightly as the plank carries him a short distance from the others.

"I could maybe try to-" Caramba starts

"Forgive me, guys," Zak interrupts.

"For what?" Cece asks, really not liking the way Zak is staring at them.

"Calabrass, Eye of Aeria!"

Zak transforms, but Cece still does not understand his plan. Or why he looks at them with such regret. Zak closes his eyes, then sweeps Calabrass-shield to the side.

A burst of charged wind -akin to the "static electricity" that Zak and Clovis so loved to play with- strikes Cece, Crogar, and Caramba, knocking them right off the barrel. They yell in shock, then hit Chaos' solid deck.

Cece is the first to her feet. The Chaos has shot a safe distance away, then turns back toward the Lemurian ship. Clovis pops up beside her, asking where Zak is. Cece wordlessly points up.

Zak is bracing himself on the plank, feet away from the barrel. The cannon starts to glow purple, but Zak doesn't move. For a brief, insanely hopeful moment, Cece thinks that Zak has actually decided against his crazy plan.

Zak briefly bows his head, then lifts it and raises Calabrass-shield. Even from the distance, Cece can hear his cry.

"Give me everything you've got!"

The light at the end of the barrel glows blindingly bright, then Zak surges forward. Cece can actually see the glow being pushed back, until it is gone.

He's done it, he really did it!

Caramba yells in dismay. "With that much pressure and nowhere to go, the cannon is going to-"

There's a small explosion, and a burst of purple energy shoots into the sky. A second later, an explosion splits the Lemurian ship in half. The cannon crashes into the ocean, while numerous other explosions further wreck the ship.

"Zak? Zak!" Cece cries.

"No!" Crogar shouts.

Cece's hand comes up in front of her throat. "I cannot believe he would do something like that."

"It was the only thing he could do to keep them from blowing up Marituga," Cramaba says, ever logical, but Cece can hear the catch in his voice.

"Does anyone see him?" Cece asks, scanning the ocean around the ship.

"Crogar not see Zak."

"No one could survive that!" Clovis says shakily.

"No…"

Cece falls to her knees. He couldn't be gone. Zak was too determined to go home, to bring them all home.

"He always said he wanted to go out with a bang," Clovis says, voice hitching.

"Zak can't… be gone?" Crogar says.

"An explosionox like that…" Caramba trails off. His screen turns toward the sky. "Wait, what?"

"What?" Cece asks dully, eyes still on the sinking ship.

"Zak." Caramba says slowly, then louder. "It's Zak!"

Everyone looks at the alien, then around.

"No, up there!" Caramba cries, pointing up.

Cece turns her eyes up. She doesn't see anything at first, then she notices a small dark speck. It's… yes, it is getting closer.

"Are you sure that's Zak?" Cece asks, hardly daring to get her hopes up.

"It is!" Caramba cries. "But he's not moving, and neither is Calabrass."

Cece isn't surprised about Calabrass. After pushing back such a powerful explosion, Calabrass had to be exhausted. But what about Zak?

"He won't survive hitting the water from that height," Cece said, watching the speck grow larger. "Where's the plank?"

"Not moving, either. It must be damaged."

"Where will he land?"

"Um…" The screen on Caramba's suit shows a thinking image, then an exclamation point. "A hundred feet that way!"

The Chaos promptly moves to the left without any prompting. Cece eyes the quickly approaching Zak.

"We need something to catch him!" Cece says.

"No time!" Caramba cries frantically. "Ten seconds til he hits!"

Cece makes a quick decision. "Chaos, move out of the way! Clovis, can you break his fall?"

Clovis doesn't need to respond. While the Chaos moves forward, Clovis flies up and raises his hands.

For a brief couple of seconds, the crew waits.

Then, Zak crashes into Clovis. The ghost's flight drops sharply, but he does greatly slow Zak's fall. Then, Clovis seems to spasm. Zak slips straight through him, falling the last dozen feet into the water.

"Clovis!" Cece cries.

"Sorry!"

Clovis dives for the water, but Cece beats him below the surface. In a second, she spots Zak. He's still not moving, and drifting slowly down. Calabrass has fallen from his grip, and sinks more quickly.

As Cece quickly swims for Zak, she hears and splash and glances back. Caramba has joined her in the water.

"Get Calabrass," Cece says, turning back to Zak.

Cece reaches Zak in an instant. His eyes are closed. Bubbles trail up from his open mouth. Cece wastes no time in grabbing him around the middle and swimming for the surface.

It isn't until she has reached the surface, that Cece checks Zak more thoroughly. He still isn't moving. It is hard to tell if he is breathing, but she can feel his pulse through his soaked shirt.

"Zak is alive!" Cece calls to Crogar and Clovis. "Help me up!"

Crogar is just turning away to get some rope, when Cece feels something grab her ankle. She yelps in alarm, then is jerked under.

In the flurry of bubbles, it takes Cece a moment to notice that it is T'halis holding her. He is sneering up at her but not attacking as he drags them deeper, obviously aware that Zak couldn't breathe under the water like them. Cece kicks out, arms too busy holding Zak to grab her ray gun.

One of Caramba's energy shots strike T'halis, breaking his grip. Cece kicks back up, coming to the surface at the same time as Caramba. She feels one of his metal arms wrap around her and Zak, then his other arm reachs up to the ship. Crogar grabs the limb, then pulls the trio to the surface before T'halis could recover.

As the Chaos fires his engines, Cece crouches and lays Zak on the deck. The crew hovers around him -Clovis quite literally- and waits. After a second, Cece drops to her knees and puts and ear to his chest.

"Caramba, he's not breathing!" Cece cries.

"What?!" Caramba shrieks. "But he's got to be breathing!"

"He nearly drowned!" Cece said frantically. "What do we do, Caramba?"

"How should I know? Wahoolians stay away from the water!"

"And Atlantians don't drown," Cece snaps back.

"Guys, I don't know about you, but this ship only needs one ectoplasimic spector," Clovis says, briefly confusing Cece before she realized that he simply meant "ghost."

Caramba looks at Calabrass in his hand. "Calabrass, please! What do we do for Zak?"

Calabrass sighs wearily. "The boy needs… the kiss of life."

Everyone inadvertently leans away from Zak. A kiss? Cece thinks of Zak as a brother, and kissing a brother is just… gross. Besides, how would a kiss help?

Crogar shakes his head. "Crogar help Zak the Viking way."

With no further warning, Crogar grabs Zak's shoulder and hauls him into a seated position. Holding Zak upright with one hand, Crogar brings his hand back.

"Crogar, no!" Cece yells, realizing what he is about to do.

Crogar ignores her, bringing his hand down on Zak's back with a loud whack. Cece winces, but then Zak's body clenches forward. His mouth comes open, then water gushes out. He gags and coughs out some more water, then falls back. Cece narrowly catches him in time and lays him gently on his back.

While Crogar's method was harsh, Zak is now breathing. He coughs a couple times, making water trickle out of his mouth. Not knowing what else to do, Cece turns Zak onto his side. Once he has finished coughing out water, she lays him flat on his back again.

Zak doesn't do anything but pant. Clovis appears out of nowhere with a towel, and Cece dries Zak off. They replace Calabrass, then lay Zak back down again to wait.

Five minutes that feel like eternity pass before Zak groans. Cece and Crogar quickly move to stand on either side of him, while Caramba and Clovis wait beside them.

Zak shifts, then his eyes creep open. He squints in the light, then blinks at the crew.

"Did we win?"

* * *

 **A/N** : **If anyone is interested, I can try to do a second part from Zak's perspective.**


	2. Zak

**A/N: Guest reviewers Toni and Lionwolf174 requested a second part from Zak's perspective, so here it is! (Written in under two hours, as per my usual for by Zak Storm stories apparently. XD)**

 **To address a concern by Lionwolf174, the "kiss of life" mentioned in the previous chapter was just Calabrass' term for CPR. It's something I see a lot in cartoons, and thought it would be funny to have Calabrass say that Zak needed a kiss of life. Sorry if I confused anyone.**

* * *

Everyone on Marituga is going to die if the C's don't do something.

Zak wracks his brain for an idea, theory, wild scheme, anything! He draws a blank, though, and the cannon only shakes harder.

"Maybe we can block the cannon!" Zak thinks wildly. "Then the blast wouldn't have anywhere to go. The whole ship would blow up instead, just like the movies!"

It's an idea, but how exactly does one plug a cannon? It's going to blow any second, and it's not like he can summon a giant cork out of thin air!

Maybe force back the blast? From Caramba's ramblings, the cannon is going to shoot concentrated energy. Like lightning in a cannon ball. How would one stop lightning...

Zak looks at Calabrass in his hand. How powerful is his Eye of Aeria shield? Calabrass stares back, seemingly knowing what Zak is thinking.

"Ah could take the blow, but ya can't," Calabrass mutters. "Tis a fool's errand, trying that."

Zak thinks about the heroes in his favorite movies. None of them would hesitate in this sort of decision. Their life to save a whole city? They'd be fixing the issue already, not standing still.

It's the only way, Zak realizes. There's no time for another plan.

Telling himself that the shaking of his body is just from the cannon, Zak steps to the end of the barrel. Takes a breath, steeling himself.

"Now all of you, off this ship." Zak's proud that his voice is steady.

"What are you going to do?" Cece asks, suspicious.

"Crogar doesn't leave. Crogar fights!"

Zak couldn't have asked for a better crew, but they can't help him in his decision. The realization hurts more than Zak thinks it should, and he can't stand straight anymore. His shoulders bow forward and he closes his eyes for a second.

When he opens them, his vision is blurry. He steps onto the waiting plank and blinks his eyes clear before turning to his crew.

"The time for fighting is over."

Cece frowns as the plank backs away. Does she think he's going to run away?

"I could maybe try to-" Caramba starts to say, but Zak doesn't let him finish.

"Forgive me, guys."

"For what?"

Cece's suspicious now. Zak's come up with wild ideas before, and she's usually hesitant to use them without careful planning. But there's no time for planning or explaining. The back of the cannon glows with power.

"Calabrass, Eye of Aeria!"

Zak's cry lacks the usual enthusiasm, and he feels a frown tugging at his lips. Out of the corner of his eye, Zak sees the Chaos racing toward the ship. He's coming to rescue his crew, and Zak intends to see that at least three of the C's are off to safety.

He looks at the three in front of him. Crogar is bracing himself against the shaking, holding his airplane wing-sword like he can bash the energy away from Marituga. Caramba's digital face is terrified, but he's standing firm. Cece stares back at Zak, eyes confused and stance ready to go down with the mission.

Zak lifts the Calabrass-shield up to his shoulder, then hesitates.

He's twelve years old. He's not ready to die! There's so many waves to surf, adventures to face, people to meet, places to visit. How can he die so far from home, leaving his dad with no explanation as to what happened?

How do the heroes in movies do it?

Zak thinks about the people of Marituga, waiting and expectant. They trust the C's to save the day, like they always did.

He thinks of the crew -no, his best friends- so willing to stand by his side in an impossible fight. They don't know there's a way to stop the Lemurian ship, but they refuse to abandon Zak.

Zak thinks of his dad. His dad always told him to do what was right, no matter how much it hurt.

 _"Sacrifice is stupid,"_ Zak remembers telling Cece earlier.

Zak sweeps his arm to the side, summoning wind to blow his friends from the barrel. He hears them thud against the Chaos' deck.

Protect Marituga. Save his friends.

 _"But there isn't any other choice."_

Zak guides the plank in front of the cannon. He stares into the light of the cannon, and looks at Calabrass. He tightens his grip.

"What power do ya want?" Calabrass asks.

Zak's silently glad that Calabrass doesn't argue his decision. "Give me everything you've got left!"

Energy flows through Zak's body. He's never felt so powerful! But in the light of the cannon's power, he's never felt so weak. Zak bows his head and closes his eyes.

He once promised himself that he wouldn't leave his friends until he found a way out of the Bermuda Triangle. Well, it seems like he couldn't keep that promise.

 _"I'm sorry,"_ Zak thinks. _"Sorry that I can't bring my friends home. I hope… I hope that you find a way home without me. I'm sorry, Dad… I won't be coming home."_

Zak opens his eyes. Energy hums in the air. It's now or never.

The plank races forward and Zak releases a battle cry. He pushes all of Calabrass' energy into the shield, blocking the cannon's barrel and forcing its power back.

His hair stands on end. He can taste the very air burning. His body shakes from too much energy.

" _Always do what's right."_ Zak braces himself for the final push. _"No matter how hard."_

Zak surges forward. Everything's white and bright. His body hurts, but his mind is numb. Some inhuman cry escapes his lips.

And the world explodes.

His body jars against something, then he's in the open air. Sunlight is dim after the cannon. He's shooting skyward, fast as a rocket.

Is this death? He can't feel a thing, not even wind on his face. His brain refuses to work, registering that his body is still there only when his momentum slows and his arms drift up into view.

Calabrass is there, eyes closed. The plank goes higher, then stops. Zak sees them, and he knows then. He is still alive.

And now he's falling.

He hopes his plan worked. He hopes the people of Marituga are okay. He hopes that the crew got away safely. He hopes they aren't mad.

He wishes he could have said good-bye.

A ghostly chill passes through Zak, jerking his unfeeling body. His eyes close and everything fades as coldness washes over him.

* * *

 _"I'm not dead?"_ is Zak's first semi-coherent thought. His next is, " _Wow, I hurt."_

Zak tries to move his arm, but his whole body is sore and damp. He lets out an inadvertent groan, and hears people moving around him.

Zak carefully shifts his body, and is relieved when there isn't any major pain. Just an overall feeling of ouch.

He dares to open his eyes. He's forced to squint by the blinding light. For a moment, he wonders if he's really dead and if this is Heaven.

Then his eyes adjust to the sunlight, and he realizes that his friends are staring at him hopefully. He grunts in confusion and tries to focus.

He has to ask. "Did we win?"


End file.
